


It's a Jolly Holiday

by Kalua



Category: Mary Poppins (Broadway Musical), Mary Poppins (Movies)
Genre: F/M, First Meetings, Short Chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-10-01 21:01:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20403664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalua/pseuds/Kalua
Summary: Bert is playing music in the park, as he often does, when a woman catches his attention...





	1. Music

The sky above the park was blue, barely a cloud in sight. With children flying their kites, couples out on walks, and the occasional person with their dog, it was bustling with activity; perfect weather for Bert to earn some money with his harmonica.

But he’d barely finished warming up when a voice drew his attention. It belonged to a woman not much older than he was; she was dressed all prim and proper, but there was something mischievous about her, although Bert couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

Right now, she was arguing with one of the policemen. Bert couldn’t make out the words, but whatever she said made him stop right in his tracks. And not just that; only a few sentences later, he apologized and turned around to walk in the other direction.

It was truly impressive; Bert had a way with words, too, but he’d never managed to outdo someone like this. There was something alluring about this woman, no doubt. And, well, no time like the present.

“Greetings, miss.” Grinning, Bert took off his hat for a deep bow. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen a new face around here.”

“Yes, I’m from out of town; I’ll probably stay for a while.” The woman smiled. “But I hoped I might be able to hear a nice song today.” She gestured towards Bert’s harmonica.

“Well, I’d be happy to oblige.” He raised the harmonica to his lips again and began playing, soon enough dancing to his own song.

The woman stood still, but when she hummed along, the birds from a nearby tree hopped closer and chirped to the tune as well.

When Bert was done, he bowed again. “If you’re staying for a while, I reckon I’ll see you more often. May I ask your name, then?”

“Yes, you may. It’s Mary Poppins.” She didn’t even look at the birds still sitting nearby, as if they were waiting for the next song. “And who do I have the honour of meeting?”

“Bert the park musician. For today, at least; tomorrow, I might be Bert the painter instead.”

“Oh, really? Will you be painting in the park as well?”

“I’d guess so, hope that some people like it enough to offer a few pennies.” Bert shrugged. “Say, you don’t happen to need someone to show you around?”

“No, but I appreciate the offer.” Mary smiled. “Maybe we’ll meet again tomorrow, Bert.”


	2. Art

Bert had already finished two or three paintings when he spotted Mary Poppins among the passersby. He couldn’t quite tell what made her stick out of the crowd like this, but it was like she had a spotlight on her. Smiling, Bert made a bow in her direction before returning to his current painting, a dragon flying through a winter storm. Today he’d felt like painting mythical beasts—his other works showed unicorns, phoenixes and pegasi.

“Oh, can we look at the pictures for a while, Mary Poppins?” The voice sounded like it belonged to a small girl, but Bert finished the last couple of brush strokes before he turned around.

Mary had come closer now, accompanied by two young girls. “Oh, I’m not sure, we do have some errands we need to take care of,” she said.

“Really now, Mary Poppins, shouldn’t there always be some time to appreciate something beautiful?” Bert asked and knelt down so he’d be on the same level as the girls. “If you look really closely at the dragon, you can see it move and dodge the lightning strikes. There was one right now, did you see it?”

The girls nodded, enraptured by the painting.

Bert glanced up at Mary, who was grinning and looking at the paintings herself. Then she focused on the girls again. “Don’t forget to pay some attention to the other ones, too. We wouldn’t want for them to feel ignored, when they’re so nice as to come out and meet you.”

A whinny sounded to Bert’s right, and when he turned to look at the sound, a small _pegasus_ flew past him and landed on Mary’s shoulder. His eyes went wide. He was confident in his craft, yes, but something like this hadn’t happened so far.

Mary gently petted the horse’s head. “Has your painter been nice to you?” She asked, then nodded as the pegasus whinnied a reply. “That’s good to hear. Go on now, say hello to the children.” It flew away, and she looked at Bert again. “However, you should know it’s considered rude to stare.”

“Sorry.” Bert quickly averted his eyes. “It’s not every day I get to see some magic first hand.”

“Oh, it’s quite easy, really. Especially with your paintings.”

“So, can you make everything come to life? I might have an idea or three in that case.” Bert looked up again and grinned.

Mary looked over at the girls to make sure they were still busy with the pegasus, and Bert could see her expression soften for just a second before she looked at him again. “Of course I can. And now I’m rather curious what you will come up with.”

“Oh, you’ll see.” Bert swiftly got back to painting—a row of animals, all with different instruments. And whenever he finished one of them, it came to life and marched right out of the picture. Penguins with trumpets, foxes with fiddles, dogs with violins, and so forth, until there was a band marching around them.

Once they had enough instruments, Bert put down his brush and paint to face Mary Poppins again. “May I ask for this dance?” he asked, bowing perhaps a little deeper than necessary.

Mary smiled and took his hand. “I’d be honoured to dance with such a skilled artist.”

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Using not just any song lyrics, but lyrics literally from the Mary Poppins soundtrack as my title? Never! (I'm bad at finding titles and this one fit xD)


End file.
